The lot numbers were assigned by Wm. Cockburn when he made his 1787 survey map of the Hilltowns. It is based on a grid a half mile across. This made the typical lot 1/4 square mile (160 acres). The number of the grid is the same as the number of the lot for vacant land. The lots of the squatters who were already there at the time of the survey are irregular in shape and cross grid boundaries.